Ezra Klein

Nicholas Thompson’s case for Chief Justice Scalia is persuasive, but a tad optimistic. While I agree that, given Scalia’s predictability, intelligence, and symbolic value to the right, we’d benefit from a trade that put him in Rehnquist’s place and filled his vacancy with a moderate, what in Bush’s history or character makes Nick think such […]

Doug Feith has quit. Oh happy day! The prime incompetent amid a sea of pretenders, he distinguished himself as an omnipresent voice for incompetence, playing a crucial part in fucking up of the invasion, and occupation, of Iraq. To quote Suellentrop: Of all the revelations that have surfaced about the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse scandal so […]

So, as Jesse finds out, the Cato and Heritage Social Security calculators are totally misleading. But the real question is, why don’t liberal organizations have similar, albeit less lie-filled, calculators online? Why isn’t the DNC hitting their list with a calculator letting them see what the Bush plan could do to their retirement? Why isn’t […]

via Josh Marshall, this cartoon says it all.

Da Moose is right, Hillary is making the sweet moves. If Bill’s enormous charisma and obvious potential gave him the credibility to cross liberals on key policies (or symbols), Hillary’s position as bugaboo of the right and liberal icon is allowing her to assume unorthodox stances on issues where progressives desperately need some creative repositioning. […]

Brad’s got a good post on the ironically named Copenhagen Consensus, Bjorn Lomberg’s blue-ribbon panel to determine the most cost-effective forms of environmental activism. His point — that it’d all be well and good if governments would actually follow the recommendations rather than just use them to knock down spending on global warming prevention is […]

Privatization. Private accounts. Personal accounts clearly have but a few days left before some forgetful pundits start getting Guantanamo’d for the term. And yes, we could just watch successive labels fall like manna from the lips of Luntz, but here at EK Inc., we like to stay ahead of the curve. So what’s the next, […]

Nathan Newman, as usual, has the indispensable last word on the labor debate. Arguing over how to revitalize labor and publicize its internal struggle for reform is well and good, but bloggers would be better used and the movement better off if they focused their attention towards individual, on-the-ground labor fights. Point taken. To start, […]

Sue reminds me of what impressed me most about DC — the brilliant merging of the bar and bookstore. My drunkenness is seriously impeded by my nerdiness, hanging out with the books often wins over cracking open some beer. Usually, this inconveniences only my girlfriend*, who is stunningly tolerant of my poor life choices. Other […]

I really like James Wolcott’s idea for a weekly Air America show about Bush-based conspiracies. But it’d have to be done right. A shrill show with unlikely sounding tales repeated breathlessly by a too-dramatic host would be no good, it’d make liberals look nuts. But a show with a slightly incredulous host, who could deal […]